Starting pitcher Jake Peavy blamed himself for the Giants' loss despite carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning.

Photo: Frank Franklin II, Associated Press

Starting pitcher Jake Peavy blamed himself for the Giants' loss...

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NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 2: Lucas Duda #21and Juan Lagares #12 of the New York Mets congratulate each other after both scored on a duoble by Wilmer Flores #4 in the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants on August 2, 2014 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Photo: Rich Schultz, Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 2: Lucas Duda #21and Juan Lagares #12 of the...

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New York Mets center fielder Juan Lagares (12) jumps to catch a ball hit by San Francisco Giants' Brandon Belt for an out in the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Photo: Frank Franklin II, Associated Press

New York Mets center fielder Juan Lagares (12) jumps to catch a...

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San Francisco Giants' Pablo Sandoval follows through on a double during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Photo: Frank Franklin II, Associated Press

San Francisco Giants' Pablo Sandoval follows through on a double...

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NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 2: Right fielder Hunter Pence #8 of the San Francisco Giants makes a catch and is backed up by Juan Perez #2 on a hit by Curtis Granderson #3 of the New York Mets in the seventh inning on August 2, 2014 at Citi Field in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

New York -- Jake Peavy has made two starts for the Giants that ended with the intense right-hander beating himself up for a mistake or two. After 11 straight losses, he has the routine down pat.

It's a shame that Peavy blamed himself for Saturday night's 4-2 loss to the Mets because nobody who takes a perfect game into the seventh inning and loses it on a bad defensive play should be down on himself, even if a four-run rally resulted.

"I've got to make better pitches," Peavy said after falling to 0-2 as a Giant. "That's all there is to it. It's just frustrating because I felt we had a chance to win that game. I know I could have done more."

Yes, Daniel Murphy's one-out drive in the seventh was smoked, but chances are Peavy's perfect game would have remained intact had Gregor Blanco been the left fielder.

Michael Morse was still out there, even though he made the final out in the top of the inning, and misplayed the ball, which sailed over his head for a double. Morse initially took a step in and moved laterally.

David Wright then floated a single in front of Morse to put runners on the corners with one out. Peavy hit Lucas Duda to load the bases before Travis d'Arnaud broke a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly.

Juan Lagares singled home a second run, and Wilmer Flores fired the coup de grace, a two-run double on a hanging changeup for a 4-0 Mets lead.

The game started as a pitching duel with historic overtones, as Peavy and Jacob deGrom both carried no-hitters into the seventh, then collapsed into a heap of scoring, most of it by New York.

Travis Ishikawa's pinch two-run single in the eighth, his first hit in this tour with the Giants, gave them a shot, but they scored no more.

The Giants lost for the first time in five games against the Mets this season, but a larger issue loomed.

Morse's defense in left field, adequate at best, was acceptable when he was hitting, but now he is not doing that either.

Morse has two home runs in 48 games since June 6. He has grounded into more double plays (nine) than he has RBIs (eight) during that stretch.

Now that Brandon Belt has returned from his concussion - he singled to start the two-run rally in the eighth - Morse returns to left field full time.

Manager Bruce Bochy still views Morse as a threat to opposing pitchers and made that clear when asked if he thought about replacing Morse for defense after he grounded out to end the seventh.

"We didn't have our best defender out there, but it's hard to take out a big bat in the seventh inning of a tie game," Bochy said.

Morse ascribed the result to where he was positioned on Murphy's drive, saying, "I was playing shallow and he hit it pretty good. It kept going away from me and to the line. It kept carrying, kept going."

Peavy did not point to that ball, though, even if it did end his perfect game. He was more upset about Flores' two-run double that capped the rally and frustrated with the bloop single by Wright after Murphy's double.

"It stinks," Peavy said. "To win a game like that, you need a break like that, and that was probably the one I'd love to have back. You make a good pitch on a good player, and that's what good players do. They get just enough of it to float it over the infield."